The Vacation
by fierysuzaku
Summary: You're an idiot if think there is a such a thing when you have Reborn sponsoring the trip for you... I suck at summaries...


"We're going on a vacation." The baby declared so offhandedly as if it was one of the most natural things in the world.

"What?" he gaped unable to believe the words as he stared the Sun acrobaleno standing in his office.

"How long has it been since you and your guardians took a rest?" the baby asked watching his student sputter into incomprehensible words.

"Exactly. Far too long to recall." He said with a smirk as he watched the student stare at him in disbelief.

"B-But…" he was about to say that it he who always said that breaks are for weaklings.

"You've been the boss for three years and the moment you took the position, you never had a day off. I said breaks are for weaklings I never said rest was, Dame Tsuna." He said plainly ignoring the untrusting look the boss was giving him.

"Okay. Fine. Where are we going?" the mafia don asked almost expecting the words 'Mafia Land' to escape the acrobaleno's lips but he already knew the child was never the predictable type.

"To America. Just leave the travel plans and expenses to me, I've already booked the tickets." He answered while the boss gave him a narrowing look. Over the years, Tsuna has learned to sharpen his intuition and something told him that what awaits him in America was far from rest.

"What about Hibari?" the mafia boss questioned awaiting the child's reply.

"I booked him for Namimori, we don't want him causing trouble won't we." Replied Reborn with a knowing look Tsuna had long classified to mean trouble will follow.

He merely gave a resigned sigh.

It wasn't like he was going to stop the hit man's plan so why bother. We had long known his Family to know that they can handle whatever catastrophe Reborn leads them into.

"By the way, the Varia are coming as well." Reborn added giving a mischievous smirk as he saw the eighteen-year-old turn into a petrified statue.

_

* * *

_

_I can't believe this._ he sighed while gulping a couple of aspirins to ease the pounding headache he currently has. Reborn of course took a different flight with the girls and kids to escape the chaotic group he had just collected.

They were in a rented jet, arranged by Reborn of course. Tsuna evidently made sure to ask Gokudera to search the thing for anything that may turn the flight more disastrous than it was already fated to be the moment Reborn decided to put the Varia and the Vongola Guardians in one plane. He even made extra precaution to make sure there were parachutes for everyone on board including extra ones just in case.

Years under Reborn made him a firm believer that there's nothing wrong in getting more things than needed since, the said child has a tendency to make the impossible happen.

_Figures, he didn't book my Cloud to Namimori to stop giving us trouble, he did it so Hibari won't be here to instill his discipline._ He groaned at his carelessness when he accepted the child's reasons.

"I should've known something was up when Reborn was sponsoring the flight." He heard the Mist acrcobaleno say voicing his earlier thoughts.

_This is going to be VERY long flight._ He thought in grimace while he tried in vain to tune out Gokudera and Xanxus's quarrels along with the many noises that surround him.

"SHUT UP! YOU FUCKING BASTARD WITH A SOFTIE FOR A BOSS!" yelled Xanxus at the silver-haired teen when their clashing insults reached a certain topic pertaining a certain Tsunayoshi Sawada.

"NO, YOU SHUT UP YOU BOSS WANNABE! THE TENTH HAS EVERY RIGHT TO SHOW MERCY ON A PERSON!" screamed the bomber as he stared daggers on the Varia boss who just comment on how Tsuna was such a softie boss.

"VOIII! CAN'T A GUY GET SOME DECENT SLEEP?" remarked the swordsman who had long popped a vein after getting an earful of the two exchange words with each other.

"Ushishishi, boss and the commoner sure are getting along." Commented the Prince the Ripper as he turned from his seat to the two hot heads.

_Is he blind?_ Tsuna inwardly thought as he shook his head at the strange conclusion.

"WHAT WAS THAT TRASH!" shouted the Varia boss obviously insulted that a subordinate would dare suggest he was getting civil with the Vongola brats.

"YEAH! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL AM I GETTING ALONG WITH HIM!" Gokudera agreed loudly while pointing an accusing finger at Xanxus' direction.

"Ushishishi… when why is the plane still intact?" questioned the cunning prince grinning like a Cheshire cat.

_He does have a point._ Agreed Tsuna as he too noticed the certain lack of explosions from two of the most trigger happy persons in Vongola.

"Ahahaha! He does have point Gokudera." Grinned the baseball fan as he agreed with Bel.

"Shut it baseball freak! That's because I'm not stupid to blow the damn thing up!" pointed out the bomber angrily only to disturbed a certain someone's appearance.

"Kufufu… you sure this has nothing to do when the two of you got stuck in a mission together and ended up getting all chummy." Chuckled as his illusions took form.

_Mukuro does have a point ever since that little mix up, Xanxus' and Gokudera-kun's arguments turned a bit less damaging. Hmm… maybe I should pair them up more often._ He wondered briefly as he noted the how the two acted a bit more civilly between each other. In fact, ever since the said mission, Gokudera seemed to be only one of the guardians that Xanxus can tolerate the most.

"Oh look Mammon, pineapple head comes to join the fun. Ushishishi…" snicker the prince.

"Kufufu… what did you call me." replied the illusionist with a creepy smile as a dark murderous aura seeped out of him.

"Pineapple head. Why got a problem with that commoner?" said the prince as he brandishes his customized knives.

"Kufufu … I'm giving you a chance to take that back wannabe prince." Smiled Mukuro in sly sinister way as he took out his trident.

"Ushishi… and if I don't?" grinned the prince as he readied himself for a nice fight.

"WOW! THE PEOPLE ARE GETTING EXTREMELY SMALL!" yelled out the boxer who was staring at the window like a child as the plane started to gain altitude breaking the arguments into brief silence.

"Of course you idiot! WE ARE ON A FUCKING PLANE!" shouted the teen, breaking the silence, he was about to condemn the senior's minute intelligence with his vast vocabulary when Lussuria went out of the bathroom after freshening up.

"AW~ Dera-kun is SOOOO CUTE when he gets all angry." Cooed the man as he began to near the bomber.

"STAY AWAY! YOU CORPSE LOVING FREAK!" screamed the teen who automatically brandishes some dynamites in defense from the perverted man.

"Meanie…" pouted the other, crossing his arms in emphasis.

So the chaos ensued, the only consolation for Tsuna was that Levi got Loose Bowel Movement (LBM) by Bianchi's poison cooking earlier so the man had to suffer within the confines of the other bathroom that NO ONE is EVER going to use if they still values their sense of smell. The last thing Tsuna needs is Levi getting all protective of Xanxus ending him using his parabolas in the plane.

_Thank God for small miracles._ He thought but felt a little guilty in finding relief in other's misfortune. Then again, they were all warned not to eat anything made by the Poison Scorpion no matter how good it looks.

His only wish was that they'll survive the flight, which is a wish that was mercifully granted by some strike of fortune and pity from the kind Almighty.

* * *

As the Vongola Familigia flight lands upon American shores, three agents sit in the middle of a room located within a store named 'Buy More' as a woman appeared upon the flat screen and gave them their next mission.

"Agents, we have received information of an abnormal increase of drug smuggling in the area."

"Oh yeah! The news mentioned that some kids went missing during a field trip and they disappeared in the place where they think the drug are… okay shutting up now." He said in an enthused way at first only to turn timid and reluctant when he was stared down by a big guy named Casey.

The hard looked said 'shut up and never interrupt during briefing'.

"As I was saying, there has been a reported increased of cases of drug smuggling around the area. We suspect the Brassi Family is behind it since the majority of the cases occurred on their territory. We want you to confirm and put an end to their operations once in for all."

"The data has already been sent to Agent Casey, he'll be in charge in notifying you two with the rest of the date. Dismissed." At the words, the screen turned blank leaving the three alone once more.

"So… Casey… mind filling us in now?" he inquired hesitantly trying not to get on the other's bad side with occurs to almost daily basis.

"Later." Grumbled the man as he exited the room leaving the two alone.

"Chuck." The blonde said gaining the guy's attention.

"Y-Yeah, Sarah?" he turned a bit uncertain as he confronted the beautiful woman before him.

"You alright?" the spy asked.

"I-I'm fine." he replied laughingly as he assured the woman.

"You sure? We seem… tired." She concluded the noting the dark circles around his eyes.

"Well… Your friends and family being possible targets as hostages or something tends to give you sleepless nights." He admitted, ever since seeing Ellie almost die due to some truth serum that kills after a certain time once administered.

"Don't worry, Chuck. They won't be in danger as long as no body finds –" she tried to assure only to be cut off.

"Out that I'm the Intersect." He sighed in a tired way.

"Exactly. So cheer up." She agreed giving him a gentle smile while giving his arm an assuring rub.

"Ya! Thanks." He nodded giving her a smile as well. At the said words, she once more gives him a warm smile and leaves.

* * *

"Okay, here's the deal. The Brassi Family is one of the oldest Families involved in the Italian Mafia." Stated the agent handing them each a copy of the file, copies that were going to end up burned into unreadable black ashes as precaution.

"Wait. If their Italian why are they here in the States?" asked Chuck naively only to be met by another one of the man's terrorizing scary stares.

"Because they're expanding idiot." He spat vexed by his question.

"Oh." He reacted followed by nervous awkward laughter.

"How long have they've been here?" asked Sarah, eyes never straying from the file.

"About five years." Grunted Casey flipping into the files as well.

"Wait. They've been smuggling and selling drug off to the streets for FIVE YEARS and you didn't do ANYTHING?" he reacted obviously bothered the extremely slow progress.

"They didn't start RIGHT AWAY you idiot. They had to make sure to gather enough people to make it successful. Intel says that they started with the smuggling of imported goods first then made their way into drugs and firearms all in the course of their stay."

"I'm guessing your people weren't able to find enough evidence to permanently put a stop to their operations." Concluded Sarah, her sharp knowing eyes meeting Casey's.

"They're good at covering their tracts, slippery bastards." Supplied the burly brunette looking more into the files.

"Yeah, I've been looking at the files and I haven't flashed on anything that Casey haven't told us." Added Chuck who took the liberty to take a look on the computer hoping to flash on something.

"Hey! When did I let you look at my computer." Called out the man as he gripped the smaller one by the neck jerking him away from the PC.

"Sorry." Apologized with fear clear in his eyes.

"Are the Vongola involved?" asked Sarah, distracting Casey from Chuck who managed to get away from the man's grip when it slackened.

"Vongola?" asked Chuck as he positioned himself beside Sarah.

"They're the most popular Mafia Family in the whole damn underworld." Answered Casey with clear hints of annoyance in the tone.

"R-Really?" he gaped all wide-eyed as the prospect of dealing with the most powerful people in the Underworld. He couldn't help but imagine a bunch of scary looking scar-faced men in suits holding guns.

"Yeah, but no. We haven't heard a peep from the Vongola for the last two years, before that it was just the occasional fights which isn't much." Sighed the man sounding a bit disappointed.

"Hmm." Mused the only woman of the team, obviously finding it strange.

"What is it Sarah?" asked Chuck noticing the pondering look on her beautiful fair features.

"I just find it strange that the most powerful Mafia Family isn't on the radar." Voicing the suspicions, fine blond brows furrow in thought.

"Think they're planning something big?" asked Casey, his face darkened in feeling of the prospect.

"I don't know. Let's just focus on the mission first. We'll deal with Vongola once we get there." she dismissed, as she directed them to focus on the mission at hand.

"Hmph! You think the rumors are true?" grunted the man as a familiar frown laced his rough hard features.

"What? That Vongola is now run by an eighteen-year-old kid? Did you hit your head on something?" jeered the blond amused by the sheer impossibility of the fact that a kid is running one the most powerful Mafia in the world.

"I'm just saying. And no I DIDN'T hit my head on something." Retorted the other, his frown deepening.

"Anyway, the files say that the drug are being smuggled in Brassi territory the same place the kids disappeared. We'll check it out tomorrow, by WE I mean the three of us." She said turning to Casey in emphasis.

"Fine. But this time, Chuck, stay in the damn car." Growled the man, as he stared the other into sheer fear.

"Will do." He agreed nervously as he made his way to the door.

"The kids were about sixteen…" remarked the blond as she threw the copies into the fire.

"You think they saw something?" said the man as he joined her, watching how the flames engulf the pages hungrily.

"Maybe." She said threw in the list of Brassi's rivals. The wild hungry tongues lapped up the piece of info along with an image of a crest of clams and guns and the word 'Vongola' they crumble into ash.

* * *

_So far so good._ He thought in relief as they managed to land without causing a commotion.

They all wore normal clothes rather than the usual suits and uniform since nothing screams Mafia than a group of men in suits with a group of scary looking individuals trailing beside them. Mammon was the only exception since he was still a baby, therefore his attire could be passed off as a costume.

He stole a glance at the others.

Gokudera was positioned at his right looking protective and observant as ever wearing his signature layered style, while Yamamoto at his left still held a carefree smile years under the mafia had not yet diminished sporting a loose carefree attire. The rest trailed behind him. Onii-san was all wide-eyes and excited wearing a simple Tshirt and jeans opposite to the low-spirited Lightning Guardian of the Varia wearing a green shirt with plain black pants. Levi was being helped by Chrome – wearing a simple blouse and skirt – because he was obviously still suffering from the Poison Cooking. Xanxus and Squalo wore frowns as they proceeded with journey the former both wore black T-shirts and jeans but the former had his with two guns crossing like swords on the front while the other had a 'JAWS' design on his. Bel just ditched the jacket, he was clutching Mammon like a plush toy while Lussuria wearing some flashy garments happily skipped in step gushing about shopping and all the fun things he was going to do.

"Boss." The gruff voice caught his attention, they've been walking for a while now, they were still unfamiliar with the streets so they had to occasionally stop to look at the map.

"What is it, Gokudera." Turning his attention to the silver-haired teen wearing a serious face denoting that something was terribly up confirming his previous sensations of being watched which he dismissed, thinking it was caused by their foreign appearance.

And of course some part of him wanted to dismiss the possibility of being involved in something over the course of their stay.

"I don't like the way those guys are eyeing us." Answered the bomber casting a look at a couple of burly men shadowing them.

"What do you mean?" he asked, he could feel himself tense at the prospect of getting into a fight.

"They've been tailing us since we exited the airport. I don't like it." supplied Gokudera, his grayish green eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"You saw it too huh." Inserted Xanxus who was wearing an even deeper frown than usual, a frown usually reserved for enemies.

He was once one of the very many persons who were at the receiving end of that frightful glare but that was long ago.

"You know something?" he turned to the Varia boss.

"Brassi." The man sneered in contempt, still clearly hiding a grudge on the time the Brassi faked a truce giving some foolish subordinates some wrong information ending with them losing more than a few men in an ambush.

"VOI! The place is crawling with them." Said the longhaired assassin eyeing the rising number of enemies.

"Ushishishi… Looks like we're going to have some fun." Snickered the prince drawing out a few knives.

"No. They won't attack. There's too many people around." Said Tsuna, his intuition telling him that they'll be drawing too much unwanted attention.

"But we've got do something. We can't let them follow us to the hotel." Said Yamamoto growing more guarded as the seconds pass.

"You're right. It would endanger the girls if that happens." He agreed a frown casting against his features, as he grew frustrated.

"Hm? Why don't we just lure them to a nice dark little alley and finish the business there." said Luss supplying an idea.

"No. A nice open spot would be more ideal. Judging from their numbers we infiltrated their territory." Disagreed Gokudera while his mind started visualizing a strategy.

"It would give us the advantage of us using our weapons too." Agreed Squalo with a nod, straying his gaze to their unwanted shadows.

"There's a vacant lot near here, we could settle thing there." added the right-hand pointing to a spot in the map indicating the venue of the upcoming battle.

"Okay let's go. Mammon, Ryohei, Lussuria and Levi goes to the hotel first cast some illusions to blend in with the crowd Chrome can make some copies to fool the men." Considered the boss looking at the lone female of the group.

"Okay boss." She nodded preparing herself to make the illusions.

"Fine. You're lucky I work for you." conceded the Mist acrobaleno jumping out of Bel's embrace.

"But little bro!" protested the boxer only to be cut off by Tsuna wearing a stern serious look.

"You need to get to the girls." He said as he watched understanding dawn on those spirited gray eyes.

"You need to take care of Levi since you're the only one he lets near him besides Chrome and Xanxus." He added stopping whatever questions Lussuria was going to sprout.

"Okay, leave it to Sister Luss!" he cheered as he wrapped a protective arm around the Varia's Lightning guardian.

"No. I r-re-refu-se. I-I w-won't l-l-eav-e t-the b-boss." He gasped in pain.

"You'll only drag us down, trash. Get yourself fixed up first, beside you don't have your weapons." Snapped Xanxus not wanting to have the enemy say the Varia is weak due to their recent stunt of ambushing one of his squads.

"A-Alright. Si-since the b-boss s-said so." Conceded Levi always unable to disobey his boss and proceeded to discreetly split up from the group.

"Let's go. Reborn doesn't like to be kept waiting." He said as he watched Chrome skillfully created identical copies of those who left while the enemy was still clueless of the trick since she used the crowded streets to her advantage.

"I can't believe a boss is afraid of a baby." Sneered Xanxus at Tsuna clearly displeased.

"You deal with him then." said Tsuna turning to Xanxus.

"Let's go." Grumbled the other in resignation, earning a knowing smile from the young mafia boss.

* * *

"We've been patrolling here for almost two hours. You sure this is where they do their deals?" said Sarah turning to Casey, the driver.

"That's what the info said, this is where the kids disappeared too." Answered the other with hints of grumpiness due to the lack of activity.

"What do kids do in an empty lot." Questioned Sarah, who was more to herself than to the others since it was low enough to pass as one.

"Lots of things. Play. Talk. Gather. Make out." Answered Chuck automatically only to be stopped by the blonde.

"Point taken." She said with a sigh.

"What are you eating?" asked Casey, noting the sound of Chuck's chewing.

"Oh! One of Ellie's special Tuna sandwich. Want some?" offered the other only to receive a baleful stare from the burly man.

"Like I would take a bite out of something that already touched your mouth?" he said sneering in disgust of the prospect.

"I would. I'm hungry." Said Sarah who seemed to catch how Chuck's face fell a bit at the rejected offer.

"Hmm… It is good." She remarked truthfully as she took a bite of the already bitten out of sandwich.

"Yup! It's one of her secret recipes." Brightened the smaller man only for it to be completely wiped out of his face when a deafening explosion was heard.

"Then I suggest you finish that up ASAP. We've got activity." Said Casey with his eyes shining in an excited light as he drove faster towards the direction of a vacant lot.

"Let's go." She said sharply after finished the bite she took out bracing herself from the heightened speed.

* * *

The place was secluded.

Abandoned buildings surrounded it, but for some unexplained reason, the piece of land remained unoccupied.

"What are you doing in Brassi territory Vongola?" sneered the bald burly scar faced man facing the group.

"We mean no harm." Began Tsuna hoping for a peaceful way out of this mess.

"Yeah, right!" remarked another Brassi in disbelief.

"We won't attack unless you make yourselves a threat." Reasoned the Vongola boss only for the words to fall uselessly unheard.

"Well too bad." Said the bald man as he took out a gun.

At that, chaos erupted.

Tsuna assumed his Hyper Dying Will Mode as he began defending himself from the series of attacks. He strayed his concentration a bit to see how the others were doing. Gokudera was already letting out a barrage of explosives with his Sistema CAI. Yamamoto had already turned his wooden sword into cold hard metal while Chrome handled herself well enough not to make him worry. He didn't have to worry about the rest.

The Varia would take it as insult if he did so.

However that brief observation allowed a bullet to hit the mafia boss.

"Ah!" he said cursing himself for letting himself turn careless just because they were winning.

"Boss!" he heard the right hand exclaim but the silver-haired bomber didn't foolishly let his guard down.

"I'm fine!" he informed clutching the painful wound as he lowered himself to a safe place.

"Someone's coming!" he heard someone say before a deafening explosion covered the area wrapping them with the scent of gunpowder and smoke.

"It must be some cops." Said the right-hand who was running through the smoke locating the injured boss who was soon followed by the others.

"We'll split up and meet at hotel." He said ignoring the worried look his friends has for him.

"But Tenth!" protested the bomber clearly against the idea.

"That's an order! It would be too suspicious if they see us all together. Chrome has already used up her energy on the copies and while fighting." He said suddenly pointing out that they can't get out without drawing attention since Chrome was already weakened to enshroud them with an illusion.

"The brat boss gotta point. Let's go." Conceded the Varia boss as he tugged on the protesting right hand.

"But you're hit!" he informed eyeing the wound, judging from the way it was bleeding it was a Rain attributed bullet that hit him, slowing down his recovery and movements as the blue flames slowly flow through his system.

But he can't tell the right hand that.

"I'll be fine. Compared to the injuries I got in Reborn's training, this is just a scratch. NOW GO!" he assured telling the others take a buddy and leave him to fend for himself.

"I'll be fine." more to Gokudera than anyone else as he took in the pained torn look his friend was bearing not wanting to abandon him.

"_**Trust in your intuition Tsuna." said Reborn in one of their training sessions.**_

The memory echoed affirming his resolve.

He told them to go. Emphasizing, the words held the weight of an official order. The right hand had no choice but to comply.

* * *

"This is as far we could go with the car, the path's too narrow." Said Casey as he and Sarah got off of the car.

"We'll go on foot." Said Sarah checking the bullets in her gun.

"Chuck." Snapped Casey as he reloaded his gun with more bullets.

"Yeah, I'll stay in the car." Sighed the other who leaned back in his seat the familiar feeling of being a burden began to descend upon him.

* * *

They couldn't believe their eyes. They have been to various fields of battle, they have seen many forms of destruction but the sight didn't prepare them for this. It wasn't because they haven't seen such chaos. It was just that one could not expect such destruction would befall on the lot. There were still fires burning, corpses littered the place. Blood splattered the grounds like flood.

"What the hell?" her gaped, he saw these kinds of things in the Middle East not in America.

"It's like a battlefield." She said voice the other's thoughts only for her reflexes to react when a bullet grazed her just mere centimeters if she had not moved.

"Shit! They have a sniper." Cursed the man as they both took cover behind one of the corroding walls.

"There he is." Pointed using a piece of broken mirror – found in the wreckage – to located the man. The man wasn't far.

"I also see a kid. He's injured. Bad, judging from the blood on his shirt." She observed when she adjusted the angle just a bit to see a spiky haired teen bleeding from a wound.

"Looks like the guy's gonna end his misery." Remarked the man as they watched the stranger take aim on the kid, Casey was about to shot him when something distracted him from his target.

"Oh my God! Kid are you alright?" They saw Chuck near the kid who seemed to be partially conscious.

"Shit! The idiot!" spat the Casey running with Sarah to protect Chuck when he saw the sniper had already moved to a different position.

But it wasn't that far.

"Chuck look out!" Sarah reached out to protect him only to be hit in the arm by a bullet from the sniper who got away before Casey could take aim once more.

"Sarah!" he cried out as he saw the woman fall while he clutched the bleeding teen in his arms.

* * *

Everything was so white and bright.

He could feel the familiar soreness in his extremities and his ears took in the familiar sound on beeping coming from the monitors.

_I'm in the hospital. How did I get here? _He wondered touching a tender spot in his arm where the bullet had entered.

"Hey, you're finally up." He was startled out of his thought when he heard an unfamiliar voice, he turned to see a young man about in his mid twenties with curly dark brown hair looking at him with relief in his eyes.

"Oh, that's right your Japanese! Do you speak English?" he was about to speak when he was cut off by the person.

"Ignore the idiot." He heard an accented tone of Japanese coated with annoyance. He saw the said insult came from an older burly brown haired man wearing a deep frown in his features.

He couldn't help but feel cautious with these people something told him they weren't what they seemed.

"Whoa! Casey, I didn't know you speak Japanese." Remarked the younger man with an impressed look on his face.

"I-I can speak English just fine." he said, knowing it would be more suspicious if he doesn't know how to. He was suddenly thankful to his little tutor for all the English lessons that the hit man taught him.

By teach he clearly meant tortured him to learn the thing along with other various languages.

"Good. This makes things easier for us." Said the man called Casey switching to English while keeping a probing look on him.

"Where am I?" he asked letting his intuition warn him if he was in danger.

It told him he wasn't.

Yet.

"You're under protection right now. Do you recall the faces of the men that brought you there?" asked the man cutting to the chase.

Judging from his question he might be some kind of cop. He thought remembering the warning, but something told him his guess wasn't quite there yet.

"I can't. They were wearing masks." He said, lying so effortlessly that it made him feel a bit sick.

_Since when did I turn into such a good liar?_ He frowned, brown eyes darkening in realization.

"What do you remember?" this time it was younger man who asked, he could feel that he person was different from his companion. The man's eyes held something he had seen fade far too many times.

Kindness.

Compassion.

Every emotion found in those uninvolved in the dark world of crime.

So unlike the man called Casey who bore the eyes of a battle hardened man.

"Noises. From guns I think… there were explosions too… that's all." He wasn't lying this time, he knows it would be more believable if he allowed some truth to leak.

"I see. Chuck, let's go out for a sec." nodded the man, clearly unsatisfied with his recall, he could feel the tension between the two. The guy named Chuck nodded as he and Casey left the mafia boss alone for some time.

_Reborn is so going to torture me for this._ he groaned already imagining the tutor's reprimanding him for getting caught be the authority.

He wasn't sure if they were the police but he felt the aura of command coming off from the man. And it told him that he must watch his words and action or it might not only endanger him but his Familigia as well.

* * *

"What? What do you mean, she isn't waking up? It was just a bullet in the arm." He reasoned still disbelieving of the words he had just heard. Sarah wasn't waking up for some reason and it was all because of him.

"A specialized bullet. It has some kind of virus." Emphasized Casey bearing a hard angry look that seem to direct the female agent's current state was due to his stupid move trying to be a hero.

"What we going to do?" he panicked, it was like when he was with Ellie, she was dying and he couldn't do anything but rely on Casey and Sarah's skills.

Now, Sarah was injured and sick.

This was too much.

"WE don't do anything. I'LL be looking for the shooter. YOU will make yourself useful for once and try to help the kid talk." Said the man looking at him with a stern frown.

He couldn't help but merely nod in helplessness.

It was his fault after all.

It was his fault his friend was lying there, probably dying by some virus that they haven't classified yet meaning if they don't know what the thing was, they have no choice but to find the person who shot her.

So he stood there in the white empty halls feeling absolutely useless as guilt began eating him up like a plague of locusts.

* * *

"You alright?" Tsuna asked as he watch the man called Chuck enter the room bearing look he was familiar of. It was a look of guilt as well pain, he himself sometimes wears the said look as well as some of his Guardians.

"Yeah." He heard the guy sigh while his intuition contradicted and classified the statement as a lie.

"You don't seem fine." he concluded looking at the way a dark shadow seemed casted upon the man's kind features.

"Well…" he was hesitant, but Tsuna could tell Chuck needed someone to talk to.

"Is something wrong?" he probed, hoping not to sound too invasive.

"N-Nothing." Stuttered the man almost catching that he was going to reveal some classified info.

The thought made the mafia boss think that there is definitely more to the man than it seems.

"What happened anyway?" he asked changing the topic but something told him that they'll be returning to the said topic in time.

"Well… I saw you were injured and moved to help you. I didn't notice the sniper and my friend took a bullet for me." said Chuck who seemed to be a bit more engrossed on his dark mood to notice his little slip.

_A sniper. That's not much a surprise, but judging from what he said his friend saw the sniper meaning his friend knew the repercussions that would follow._ He thought concluding that Chuck's friend would either value him enough to block a bullet for him or that Chuck was a very important person that he was assigned a bodyguard willing to die for him.

He thinks it's somewhere in between.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He said automatically since he felt himself compelled to do so, since the sniper wanted him.

Chuck just got in the way.

So did his friend.

"No. It wasn't like it was your fault." Said the man waving his hands in emphasis while wearing reassuring yet nervous smile.

"It was mine. If I had stayed in the car like Casey said, Sarah wouldn't have to take the shot and would have dealt with the guy. I'm so useless." His smile fell into a frown but the last statement hit a nerve with Tsuna.

"Don't say that." he suddenly said breaking the man from the brooding mood as his eyes blazed.

* * *

"What?"Chuck looked at the boy with a confused, the kid seemed angry and reproachful, it was a look he had found in Ellie when she berates him for putting himself down too much.

"You're not useless. You left the car because you were worried for your friends right?" the boy said wearing a look that seemed a bit out of place for an eighteen year old. It was a knowing look found more on those experience wise men rather than a teen.

"Yeah but because of me Sarah's sick." He agreed with a frown, he paid her a visit before going back to the kid like Casey said. She was so still, the only indication that she was alive was the beeping sounds of the monitor and the unlabored breathing of her chest. He dared to touch her, let a finger linger longer than necessary as he pushed a stray lock of golden hair from the beautiful features.

"_**I'm sorry." He whispered allowing guilt to encase him even further.**_

"What do you mean?" the question shook him off from his recall, he raised his eyes to meet the boy looking at him wonderingly.

"The bullet got some strange virus in it. Even the experts doesn't know what it is." He said naively, he didn't notice how the boy flinched at the information.

"I see." He did notice the darkening look on him when he muttered the words in understanding.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you. You should be resting." He started to stand giving the teen an opportunity to get some sleep since the ordeal must have taken a toll on the kid as it did on him. He of course didn't know that the said kid was already used to being injured and being forced to undergo VERY stressful situations.

"I'm fine." insisted the teen.

"You could've bled to death, you were hit." He looked at the boy who merely gave him a surprised look.

"Oh." Something within him told it wasn't due to the knowledge of being hit that caused the surprise but dismissed the thing as ridiculous thinking it was some delayed reaction.

The said reaction never came.

"So… you know my name. What's yours?" he asked deciding to sit once more since the teen seemed to have no inclination of resting just yet.

"Tsuna." He answered making Chuck raise a brow.

"Tuna? That's a funny name." he repeated off-handedly feeling a bit sorry for the guy since he was named after a fish.

"No. TSUna." The boy said placing emphasis on the first syllable of his name.

"Oh… TSUna. I'm sorry." He apologized hoping not to have offended the boy.

"No it's fine." chuckled the boy, paying no heed to his mistake.

"So where are your parents?" he asked so they can inform the boy's parents of their son's whereabouts.

"They're not here." The boy stated, a nostalgic look in his brown eyes, which he mistook for something else completely.

_An orphan. _

"Oh… Um… how old are you?" he said changing the topic to something else.

"18." Said the boy elaborating on nothing.

"I see…" he trailed he was about to ask the boy something when a ring dislodged the said question from him.

"I gotta go. Get well soon. I'll be coming back tomorrow." He muttered as he read the message from his sister who was getting worried about him since he was late for dinner.

"Okay see you." nodded the boy who smiled at him.

* * *

"What do you mean he hasn't arrived yet?"demanded the silver-haired right hand gripping a poor subordinate by the collar.

"I'm sorry sir but – " the poor man tried to reason only to fall silent at the dark murderous glare he got from his superior. The said man couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous that he was being manhandled by a boy younger than him by ten years.

"Shit! I'm going back there!" spat the teen, gruffly pushing the subordinate off as he made his way out.

"Gokudera wait!" called out the Rain guardian grabbing on the smaller teen's wrist stopping him.

"Let me go baseball freak!"he shouted trying to make the Rain to let go off him but the grip held unmoving and firm.

"No. You gotta calm down." Stated Yamamoto, his honey brown eyes meeting gray green depths swirling in worry and apprehension.

"The Tenth's not here yet. It's been hours since we split up. He was hit dammit!" he struggled, he was panicking, he couldn't help but remember the future where their boss supposedly died.

"Tsuna's strong. He won't go down that easily. Besides if you go back there…" he was trying his best to calm his panic driven friend, he knew what was going on in the genius' head, he was having flashbacks on the time when Tsuna faked his death. But even when it was all fake, the possibility was not.

"Shit. I knew I shouldn't have left him." The words carried a defeated sigh as Yamamoto watched Gokudera sag on the floor as if all the strength just went out of him.

"You couldn't turn down an order." He stated hoping that would help.

"But –" protested the right-hand, looking up to Rain with broken eyes.

"We'll find him." He assured once more, not only to help the bomber easy his distress but his as well.

"I trained Tsuna to be the best boss there is. Don't insult me by placing his abilities in such a level." Inserted the arcobaleno wearing a distinct frown on his face.

"You guys are right. The Tenth's the best there is." He sighed, agreeing to the two's reasons but one could easily tell it didn't calm him much.

Over the years he had learned to lengthen his temper to an extent, but he couldn't help but revert back to his brash self when it involves his boss being in danger. It would take a few moments of being forced to sit and calm himself down before he was allowed to anything. And after they deem him functional, they would let him take command once more.

It was a pattern.

A pattern that won't break anytime soon.

* * *

He has been in the hospital for three days, he couldn't contact the Familigia since his room is being bugged, and judging from the enhanced technology of the bugs, it confirmed his suspicions that he might have been saved by the CIA.

_This is bad. If they find out about me, we'll be in big trouble._ He could already imagine him being held as a bargaining chip or being beaten into a bloody pulp for information.

_I've been gone for so long, Gokudera-kun would be really worried like crazy. I hope he's not being too hard on himself. _He sighed as he remembered the over-protective friend of his.

Over the course of his stay, the main reason why he was kept in the hospital was because he could provide them info. They for some reason thought he was some orphan and decided to assume his last name wouldn't matter. Casey questioned him often, and he was starting feel even more cautious towards the man. Chuck on the other hand was easier to talk to, his questions were more personal but he didn't force himself when Tsuna doesn't want to talk about it. He concluded the guy was really nice, not fitting the ideal agent one bit.

But who was _he_ to talk.

_My ring!_ He suddenly remembered, he was so used to have it around him that he couldn't tell whether he was wearing the thing or not.

_I hope they didn't throw it away. _He hoped thinking the ring was kept somewhere in the hospital, he melted some black glass on it at the last minute before he became unconscious making sure nobody would connect it to the Vongola. But since he wasn't allowed to leave the confines of the room for his own safety he had no choice but to ask someone for it.

"Hey buddy!" greeted Chuck who was wearing a happy smile.

"Hey, Chuck!" he greeted back noting the good mood but he wasn't blind to the dark circles starting to grow around the man's eyes.

_He must be worried for Ms. Sarah._ He concluded, over their talks Chuck always mentioned about his family and friends. And whenever they got to Sarah his eyes would hold a certain light, that made Tsuna conclude the man held feelings for the woman. It amused him that Chuck ended up talking about himself more rather than the other way around.

"So… how you're feeling?" asked the guy as he took his seat.

"Oh you know, like any patient. Waiting for discharge." He said jokingly trying to get a point across.

"Well… as much as I would like that for you. It's doctor's orders." Laughed the guy.

"Fine. Hey, Chuck when they brought me here, what happened to my clothes?" he frowned a bit since he was still confined in the place, but decided to ask Chuck a favor.

"Oh! You mean your stuff?" blinked the man when he realized what he was talking about.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well, I think they still got the stuff." Said the man but doubt was present in his words.

"Um…" he was about to ask but the guy already beat him to it.

"You want me to get it for you?"said the guy knowingly wearing a warm smile.

"Yeah…" he returned the gesture, something told him that there is a strong possibility of Chuck of finding out about his identity but something told him that the man won't get to tell anyone either.

"Sure, be right back." Said the man as he stood up to get Tsuna's things.

* * *

"Hey, can I get the kid's stuff." Said to one of the guards, they took the teen's things for testing, so far nothing seemed out of place.

No criminal records.

No unusual flashes.

Nothing.

It was as if the kid just appeared out of nowhere.

Unless he was foreigner, then that would explain why the lack of records.

But judging from the way how fluent the kid spoke, he was probably an orphan who ran away somewhere.

"Sure. We even cleaned and fixed his clothes for him. He has the dorkiest mittens ever." Chuckled the man who was in charge of storage as he gave Chuck a plastic bag containing the things.

"Yeah well… gotta go." He said, thinking the kid must want some sense of familiarity after being cooped up in the hospital room for so long. He offered to let Tsuna stay with him and Ellie but Casey was against it since someone might recognize Tsuna and might endanger the rest.

"Tsuna, here's your stuff." He entered the room, he knocked but there was no reply.

"Oh, I'm at the bathroom. Just put it there." he heard the muffled voice through the door along with sound of rushing water.

He told the kid that they have nurses to clean him and that he shouldn't force himself. But the kid insisted on doing the things himself, the doctor said nothing was wrong with it but he had to make sure not to get the wound wet.

"Okay." He answered, he was about to take his seat and wait for him to finish when a rather shy voice called out to his attention.

"Um…Chuck." Said the teen hesitantly.

"What?" he asked wondering if something was wrong.

"I sorta…" he heard the boy pause almost unwillingly.

"Forgot the towel?" he guessed when his eyes landed on the neatly folded towel by the bedside table.

"Yeah." He said turning the shower off indicating he was finished cleaning himself.

"Sure." He reached out for the towel, he knocked on the door and a hand reached out for the said towel that he gave.

"Thanks." Said Tsuna stepping out of the shower with the towel wrapped securely around his waist.

"Whoa! YOU'RE REALLY BUFF!" he couldn't help but say as his eyes took in the kid's VERY well defined muscles. He questioned himself why he haven't notice it before.

"Huh? Oh, I work out a lot." Blinked the other only to realize what he was talking about and answered it rather sheepishly.

"Uh… here's your clothes." He handed the boy who gratefully took it and proceeded to do being the dressing screen.

"Hey, they cleaned my clothes." He heard the boy say as he saw the silhouette hold up the things, he turned away immediately to give Tsuna more privacy.

"Yeah, I know this is none of my business but what's with weird mittens?" he asked remembering the previous remark about them.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." he heard the boy chuckle.

"Trust me. I've seen far more freaky stuff." He turned once he heard the approaching steps only to see the boy fully dressed instead of the hospital gown.

"Is that so?" he saw the boy smile to him in amusement while he started wearing the said strange mittens with '27' sewn into them.

"Hey, why are you all dressed? Hm? I didn't know you have a ring." He reacted as he took in the boy's appearance, he noticed that the clothes looked more expensive when it wasn't soaked with blood. From the sneakers up to the nicely tailored black pants to the fixed up orange dress shirt, his eyes locked on to something, a ring held on by a bare hand.

The glass covering it was long melted, thus the ring shined in full glory.

"Oh my God!" The was the only thing he could mutter as he flashed on images of a familiar crest along with people wearing the same ring. In his head, only one thing screamed in alarm.

Vongola.

"Shit!" he heard someone swear, and the only thing he remembered was falling into darkness when a sharp hit landed on his gut.

* * *

They were all gathered in the conference room. They girls and children were under the watch of Lussuria so they didn't have to worry about them for a while. Unlike a majority of the Varia, Lussuria is smart enough to call when something went wrong. Levi was still in the infirmary, turned out Bianchi was experimenting on a new more potent formula of poison.

"You think the Brassi got him?" asked Yamamto who was starting to worry as well, it they've been looking for the said boss for three days but to no avail.

"No. They would've made demands by now." the right hand answered to gritted teeth who was pacing the room as he continued to ponder on every possibility that won't send him into a panicking mess again.

He was about to reach a conclusion that the boss was hiding in a Brassi infested territory and couldn't contact them since he could easily be recognize when a shrill alarm call from his laptop.

"What's wrong?" everybody responded.

"Someone's trying to hack into the Systems." He said with furrowed brows while his long slender fingers typed some combination.

The Systems is the mafia's own personal version of the internet. It basically stores all the basic information of the underworld on it, mostly used by Mafia Land to keep tract of the a Familigia's members. It doesn't give much, but sometimes it can give out info not meant others to hear. Like the latest rival families or the identities of the bosses.

This is why it is protected by a special password that only those in upper echelons of every Familigia can use.

And now it's being hacked.

It was a good thing that Vongola boss who was there when the Systems was first established decided to just the put another wall to protect Vongola related information. He also didn't allow any more info on the Systems except the name of the bosses and the name of their guardians. All other info about Vongola on itself has been on its own personal system. Everything that was uploaded on the Systems were merely common knowledge or gather info from other Families.

The power of hyper intuition.

"Uh… why does it report to you?" asked Ryohei who was wondering along with the others.

"Because unlike the idiots that think the omerta is enough to protect the data, I placed extra precaution just to be sure, I even upgraded our defense wall just to be sure." He muttered too engrossed in his laptop to glance back to the boxer.

"So you hacked into the system to keep hackers out?" asked Yamamoto raising a brow of slight confusion.

"Yeah. WHAT?" he reacted when he tore his attention and looked at the group who were staring at him like he had done something unbelievable.

_I was just taking precautionary motions to ensure the Family's safety. What's so weird about that?_ he asked as the others continued to stare at him.

"Okay… the alarm which only works when someone hacks it successfully and when the info is Vongola related, I placed an automatic tracer on those who tried to infiltrate the thing. I'm still working out the kinks so it could protect our allies as well." he informed as he held on to a serious face.

"Not bad. Since it was hacked, the Brassi isn't the culprit here. The CIA must be behind it." said Reborn, his childish features darkening as he suspected the culprits from the hack.

"CIA?" questioned the boxer and baseball idiot who were still new to the common factions the mafia has to deal with.

"It's the US's secret weapon in dealing with their enemies." Supplied Mammon with a bored sigh while the two boys tired to understand the meaning of the words.

So far Yamamoto seemed to the one who got it first while it too more than a few moments for Ryohei to comprehend the thing.

"Wait, are you saying Tsuna could be held up by the CIA?" said Yamamoto, honey brown eyes growing wide with alarm.

"It's most probable." Said Reborn grimly.

"Reborn-san has a point, we've searched everywhere. A recent hack on the Systems means that the CIA is working on mafia related activities. Vongola to be exact. But I don't understand, we have been under the radar for two years." frowned the bomber, not liking the aspects on bit.

"Brassi just ambushed a bunch of Varia underdogs, it's most likely our Family just got involved when the agent was searching for more recent activities." Said Reborn a frown lacing his features.

"So they got Sawada then." concluded the boxer, a very distinct glower in the gray eyes told everyone the gravity of the situation.

If the situation is enough to make the Vongola Sun Guardian take on a serious look then thing aren't looking up in their end.

"You think they found the damn brat out?" Xanxus said, turning to the Storm's shadowed face.

"THE TENTH'S NOT A BRAT, YOU DAMN WANNABE! And… no. I don't think so. I haven't released the Tenth's info yet so –" Retorted Gokudera who fumed at the insult but managed to answer the questions as calmly as he could only to stop his words when he was met with confounded stares again.

_What's wrong with these people? Is common sense really that hard to get? _He internally fumed as he snapped at them.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT THIS TIME?" he yelled out getting annoyed of being on the receiving end of those looks.

"VOI! He's been boss for THREE YEARS and you haven't uploaded the info yet!" exclaimed the long silver-haired swordsman to the short silver-haired bomber.

"It's not like we need to broadcast the Tenth's identity to the whole world." He gritted he didn't like being implicated as being lazy, which was what the statement suggested.

"Why? Isn't it a good thing other Families get to know who the new Vongola boss is?" asked Yamamoto, abruptly deflating the rising irritation of both the hotheaded Mafiosos.

"It is but…" answered Gokudera who turned to his direction momentarily ignoring the Shark.

"But at Tsuna's age, small fry Families might think he's weak and try to usurper Vongola. Gokudera knows that Tsuna doesn't like fighting the defenseless so he didn't place the info to lessen the chances of it happening." Supplied Reborn in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Exactly." Confirmed Gokudera with a nod as the rest gave him nods of understanding.

Resisting the urge to hiss 'idiots' under his breath he continued on with conversation.

"Anyway, I just installed the wall recently before the Tenth took up the position… I don't know how long they've been hacking into the system before that but whatever they dug up is gone now." He ended with a smart smirk on his aristocratic features.

"I know that smirk anywhere. What did you do you slimy bastard?"sneered Xanxus, he was familiar with that kind look, it was one of those smirk that denotes an impending checkmate or trap for the enemy.

It was a look even Xanxus didn't want to be on the receiving end of.

Because if you got that look directed on you, you're either going to end up dead or in seriously very deep shit.

"The tracer is also a virus. Whatever useful info they have on us is gone." The smirk grew wider, while Reborn echoed the gesture as well.

"How does it work?" asked Chrome.

"Easy, each info from the systems have a specific signature, the virus finds the said signature and destroys it immediately." He grinned, he could almost picture out a scene of panicking agents trying to futilely save their files.

And he wasn't far off.

"Ushishishi, so if they managed to copy the information…" snickered Bel who grew amused at the rather dirty tactic.

"I wouldn't matter, as long as it's on a computer and is some way connects." the bomber merely shrugged as he began typing something on his laptop once more.

"Hm… as expected from Vongola's second in command." Smirked Reborn as he suddenly appeared by Gokudera's side observing how the tracer was starting to send information on who tried to infiltrate the Systems.

"Thank you Reborn-san." He bowed, one could rarely get a real complement from the arcobaleno, so he when he does give out one, you must have done something excellent to earn it.

"Ushishishi, so we'll just have to wait for it to give us a main location." Grinned the prince while he dreamed of bloody scenes playing before his eyes.

* * *

"What the fuck?" he swore he'd never thought that this day would come.

Yet here it was, blaring at him in big bold blinking red letters.

"VIRUS ALERT!" the mechanical voice played on like a broken record making the other more pissed than he already was.

"Agent Casey!" another window opened on the PC's screen, showing a fuming old woman staring daggers at him.

"Ma'am!" he acknowledged, but still the frown deepened.

"All our info on the mafia are getting destroyed by a virus, we traced the origin and it came from your PC what's going on?" she stated as calmly as she could but alarm was clear in her voice.

"I don't know." He blinked, since he couldn't think of a proper excuse.

_I was just hacking into the Systems when it happened. _He wanted to add but refrained to do so since it won't be helping him much.

"Well. Then, it's a good thing we have a backup file equipped with the best anti hacking and virus software." She sighed in resignation, he discreetly mimicked her as he thanked the nerds who were careful enough to make backup system where it copies the already uploaded info and stores it in its vast memory.

"MA'AM WE HAVE A SITUATION WITH OUR BACKUPS! THE VIRUS INFILTRATED IT!"

The alarmed nerd shouted while he exhibited a look of sheer panic.

A look he and his co-workers were currently sharing.

"WHAT!" both she and Casey exclaimed in shock.

_So much for state of the art._ He glowered as the nerd continued to report how the backup started to be eaten by the new virus.

* * *

"I see so it's harmless as long as it doesn't find a signature to connect to." Nodded Reborn as he listened to the bomber's explanation.

"Yeah, that way it can gain access to any software without being detected." confirmed the right hand who returned his attention back to the group leaving his laptop to do its assigned task.

Finding the hacker's location.

"So what's is it called?" asked Yamamoto all wide eyed.

"59V." muttered the bomber who once again received more than a couple raised brows.

"It's the fifth version. What? You think I'm stupid enough to leave the thing at that?" he grew defensive under the scrutiny.

"Control freak." Said the Varia boss with a mocking tone and sneer.

"Che!" the Vongola Storm Guardian merely snorted, denying nothing.

* * *

"Agent Casey! We have a problem. The witness is gone and Bartowski is too." Said the frantic agent through the phone.

"Damn it!" he was getting visibly more pissed than he already was.

_What the hell is going on here? First Walker's sick then the idiot's gone missing with the witness. _he gritted his teeth in frustration, wanting to punch or break something.

"Sir!" the call caught his attention once more.

"WHAT?" he snapped, he could almost tell he wasn't going to get any good news as of yet, judging from the way things are currently falling apart.

"We have a problem." Stated the agent, the said person would never know how lucky he was that he wasn't in Casey's shooting range.

"Why am I not surprised." He growled in sheer anger.

"There's not only an increased number of drug smuggling, our sources suspect that child trafficking may also be at large." Informed the other.

"What do you mean?" his anger was temporarily halted when the prospect of new info appeared.

"There hasn't been reported incidents since they targeted street kids but – "

"They started targeting those with homes as well."

He could only nod at the info, he ordered the man to find more data on it since he obviously had to look for the missing idiot.

"SHIT! WHERE'S CHUCK WHEN YOU NEED HIM!" he growled slamming his fist heavily on the wooden desk, one could almost swear that a thin splintery crack could be traced on the location where his fist landed.

* * *

"We have trouble!" Lussuria entered the room alarming the others immediately.

"What is it? Is it the Tenth?" asked Gokudera, he could almost feel the raw panic encase him.

"No. It's Fuuta! The girls went to buy some snacks for the kids, they were too focused at the younger two to notice he's missing. And I was busy watching them that I forgot about Fuuta too."

"The girls found this in their bags." He handed the silver bomber the child's Ranking Book, upon closer inspection, he noticed a folded page where it contained the Vongola's top rivals. The fold acted like an arrow, it's dog-ear pointing to a certain name.

"Brassi." He seethed, greenish gray eyes boiling in anger.

"Those filthy bastards!" shouted the boxer slamming his fist on the table, completely decimating the piece of furniture.

"You think they found out that we have the girls are with us?" turned Takeshi, his eyes turning serious and sharp.

"No. If they know that, they'll be making demands as well." inserted Reborn, a dark frown on his features while a shadow striking against his feature

"They're clueless then." sighed Yamamoto in slight relief.

"Yeah, and I don't know if that's a good thing." Frowned the bomber, not liking the turning of events one bit.

"What do you mean Octopus head?" asked Ryohei, his once hyper demeanor, turning serious as well.

"If my conclusions are the same as with Gokudera, we must find Fuuta before it's too late." Said Reborn, the shadows on him growing even darker.

"Why, what are they going to do with him?" asked Yamamoto, while the rest of the Varia only sneered at the unspoken fact.

"The Brassi does human merchandise, trash." Seethed Xanxus.

"You mean…" the young swordsman's honey brown eyes widen in shock.

"WE'VE GOTTA FIND HIM!" screamed the boxer as he proceeded to run after the said kidnappers.

"Hold it! Don't play hero Lawn head." ordered Gokudera gripping the senior's shoulder hard to keep him from going.

"What?" turned the man as his passionate grey eyes clashed with stormy tempests.

"We can't afford to lose any one. Let's sit down and plan this out." Said Gokudera in an effort to reason with the boxer.

"You're ready to get out and face the Brassi alone for Sawada but not for a kid?" pushed the boxer who was clearly too worried to be reasoned with.

"DO YOU THINK I LIKE SITTING HERE FREAKING HELPLESS? DO YOU THINK I ENJOY WORRYING TO THE POINT OF INSANITY FOR THE BOSS! YOU THINK I ENJOY THIS HUH? NOW FUUTA'S BEEN KIDNAPPED. I HAVE ENOUGH FUCKING THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT! I DON'T WANT YOU TO JOIN THE DAMN LIST AS WELL STUPID!" the Storm snapped, it was like seeing a bomb finally explode.

"You worry about me?" asked the older teen, clearly blown away with the younger one's declaration.

"Of course you knuckle headed idiot. We're a family remember." Sighed the other, after the said explosion, they all agreed to plan their next moves out carefully. They weren't only dealing with the Brassi, they had the CIA too consider about as well.

* * *

"It's decided then, we'll send Bel and Chrome." Conclude the right hand as they finally finished the plan.

"Are you sure about this?" voiced Xanxus with a frown, clearly doubtful of the combination.

"We need inconspicuous characters, plus Chrome's an illusionist. She can come in handy if Agents really are involved." Reasoned the bomber without much success when Yamamoto butted in.

"Wouldn't it be better if we use Mammon and Bel. They work better together." Said the swordsman as both men looked at him.

"We need Mammon's psychic abilities to find the Tenth." Replied the bomber sternly.

"And it isn't working because he's isn't familiar with the area. We also need it to find Fuuta." Butted in the boxer.

"One thing at a time." Stated Gokudera already knowing where this argument was going.

"Tsuna wouldn't like it if you placed him before a kid." Stated Yamamoto his eyes growing serious and cold.

"Don't use that card on me." he snapped as he met the cool gaze with fiery ones.

"How could Bel and Chrome be inconspicuous anyway? She has one eye and he goes into frenzy every time he sees blood. Why not just get Sasagawa and Yamamoto?" said Xanxus still not liking the plan.

"The Brassi already knows them." The silver top reasoned.

"And Bel?" asked Yamamoto.

"That's what where the illusions come in." he supplied when he was met with doubtful looks.

"She's not Mukuro." Seethed the Varia leader whispering to the Storm while gripping the teen by the collar. He doesn't want any half-baked plans involving his men.

"She can do it, and it isn't like he's that far away." He replied the other, eliciting weird stares from the others as the two men whisper the words to each other.

"Besides, we need a reasonable head." The right hand, the finality in his voice told the others to go to their assigned posts.

"Hey, bastard! If you wanted a reasonable head why not use Yamamoto?" Xanxus caught his attention, it appeared that the man waited for them to be alone.

"We need him to guard the girls and kids, Ryohei won't leave his sister." he replied knowing the boxer more than adamant in guarding the girls.

"SO I'M STUCK WITH YOU AGAIN? Squalo and Luss went to investigate and keep looking for you bratty boss while Mammon's locked up in his room trying to track the brat. And Levi is out because of your crazy sister's cooking."

"Hey, he ate the stuff! Aneki didn't force it down his throat!" and that was the start of another fight, which resulted to Reborn shooting them with his Leon machine gun.

How did they not notice the napping acrobaleno?

* * *

"Ushishishi. So the prince gets stuck with the peasant girl eh?"grinned the Prince.

"Gokudera-kun said that our cover will be freelance journalists." Informed the illusionist who was starting to delve into a black suitcase.

"Oi, peasants should listen to royalty." Admonished the blond with a frown.

"Bel-san, which character do you like to be?" she said as she held up two pictures of certain individuals.

"The blond one." He pointed to a lean looking man sporting an easy grin.

"Okay, then I'll be the interviewer while you're going to be the cameraman." She conceded as she took out the added info they needed.

"Wait, doesn't that mean I have to follow you around town." Inserted Bel.

"Why yes, Bel-san." Nodded the girl rather naively.

"No fair, I wanna switch." He frowned as he whined in his ever spoiled way.

"Okay." She conceded seeing nothing was wrong with the said act.

"Aha! You think you can fool the prince? Being the interviewer means I have to deal with the commoners. I refuse. Change back with me." he demanded again.

"Fine. So your name would –" she was about to fill him in with the rest when he inserted himself once more.

"You are a sneaky person aren't you… you purposely made it look bad so you can have all the glory while the cameraman is in the background and carries all the equipment like a pack mule." Concluded the prince.

"Okay, I'll be the cameraman." She said getting a bit annoyed with his ambivalent attitude.

"Ah! But the interviewer gets blamed if he makes a mistake. I'll be the cameraman." He said as he started to annoyed the girl even further.

"Sure." She said in annoyance, she was worried about the Fuuta, the sooner they could do this the sooner they could find the child.

"Then again, I'm a prince, I'm always right! I'll be the interviewer!" he exclaimed.

"O-kay…" she sighed.

"But then…" he contemplated, he was about to demand another exchange when he came face to face with a deadly aura of killing intent directed at him.

"MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MIND!" she growled at him, as the dark aura surrounded her menacingly.

"Ushishishi… The prince will be the cameraman." He conceded nervously, reminding himself never to get on Chrome Dokuro's bad side EVER.

"Good. No more take backs. So your name would be Fred Gordon. I'll be the interviewer named Julia Flanders." She smiled, the aura disappearing as if there wasn't one to begin with.

* * *

He felt awful. The bright sting of sunlight reached his eyes, making him squint. It took a while but he realized he was in a car.

"What?" he was bewildered, he tried to recall what happened but nothing came up, only for his musings to be broken be a familiar voice.

"Sorry about knocking you out." The mafia boss apologized looking back to Chuck with a softened gaze.

"YOU!" he exclaimed while he pointed an accusing finger at the teen.

He remember everything quite clearly now.

"You're one of the Vongola!" he said in sheer shock, in the back of his mind, the image of big scary looking men in suits seemed to mock him with irony.

"But you're just a kid! How can you be part of the mafia?" he asked only to be met with laughter, but he could almost detect a hint of bitterness in it.

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me." said Tsuna wearing a grim smile.

"Are you branching here as well? Like the Brassi?" he asked suspiciously.

"What do you know about the Brassi?" he saw the teen's chocolate eyes narrow at the mention of a certain Family.

"N-Nothing. Just some gossip." He stuttered a bit nervously.

"You're lying." Tsuna saw right through him, the boss didn't need his hyper intuition to know that.

The man is a lousy liar.

"W-What are you talking about?" the nervousness was still present, a blaring indicator of feigned ignorance.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Sighed Tsuna, not wanting to force the guy into something.

"Um… where are we going anyway?" the man asked.

"I know this isn't my business but…" The teen ignored the question, instead he trailed off, catching Chuck's innate curiosity.

"But what?" he urged.

"I find it weird that an ordinary salesman has more than ten bugs on his body alone." Stated Tsuna in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I HAVE WHAT?" he gaped unable to think clearly.

"You didn't know?"the boss blinked a bit surprised.

"Hell no! I knew there were bugs but do they really need that many? I'm not going anywhere!" he was clearly surprised of the new found knowledge on the methods of confiscating him of his privacy.

"If it makes you feel better. I've already destroyed them all before we left the hospital." Informed Tsuna, but something told him it wouldn't help one bit.

"NO! Crap Casey's going to kill me!" he realized as his brain enumerated the various methods of torture the burly brunette knows of.

"Casey. That scary looking guy? Is he your body guard or something?" Tsuna delved, deciding it was time to get some more info.

"You could say that." replied Chuck warily.

"You know, if I didn't know better Chuck, I could almost conclude that you're part of some secret agency run by the States." He said, stating a thory.

"That's one crazy imagination you got there Tsuna." Chucked the older guy nervously.

"Crazy but true." He said gaining a look of wide surprise from the guy.

"Don't be too shocked. I'm like a human lie detector. I can easily tell when somebody is lying to be." He smiled reassuringly as he watched the man panic. As he was about to launch himself on the other side of the car, he was held by a cuffed hand.

"Um… where did you get the cuffs?" he asked in a bewildered way.

"Oh, that. I stole it from the guard." He answered off-handedly once more, turning his attention to the road.

"You managed to steal from an agent?" he exclaimed suddenly cursing the looseness of his tongue.

"Ah… so you ARE part of something." Concluded Tsuna knowingly with hints of smugness in the tone.

"Shit!" he cursed, his self esteem just dropped more than a few notches.

"Don't feel too bad. I'm guessing you're still new?" ventured the mafia boss, not wanting Chuck to feel bad.

"Miss Sarah… she's an agent too right?" he continued on, since no reply was uttered.

"I'll take that as a yes." He sighed as the man refused to talk since he obviously fear of saying something that might divulge more info.

"It won't take long before they report us missing. I want to contact my Family before they catch up." He informed, the loaded silence was uncomfortable.

"What are you going to do with me." asked Chuck almost fearfully.

"I suggest you keep quiet." He sighed, not bothering to answer the question since he himself does not know.

"Why?" he demanded, he obviously wants to know what possible horrors he was going to face in the hands of the mafia.

"So we won't draw anymore unneeded attention. This is Brassi territory. The Vongola isn't welcome here." Supplied the Mafioso, cursing briefly under his breath when he noticed a group of cars block the driveway.

"Eh?" he could he the agent remark in wonderment.

He merely sighed.

He stopped the car as he unbuckled the seatbelt and went out of the car.

"Stay in the car." He commanded as a bright orange flame surfaced from his forehead.

For once, Chuck actually listened.

Even if he wanted to continue yanking on the chain till it broke, he was took shocked to see the various colored flames the suited men created, while a certain flying teen knocked them all down effortlessly.

* * *

"Xanxus!" one of the lower subordinates, entered the room panting.

"WHA – Shit!" he was about to shout at the man for interrupting him when he was a wounded Chrome trailing behind. The fact that she was still bloody and disheveled meant that something was wrong.

"I'm sorry." She said, guilty tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

"Report." He growled, paying no heed to the obvious show of weakness.

"Bel and I were investigating a rumor of abducted kids in a warehouse near the vacant lot you all fought on. The location seemed to have been moved, we saw evidence of habitation in the area. It seemed the reason for the move was because of the dilapidated area, making it dangerous for their men to be around in. There were agents, we had no choice but to stick to our cover, it was then they attacked. And because of that… we weren't able to pull out our weapons in time. The place collapsed. I managed to escape but… they got Bel-san." Tears were already flowing, she found it her fault for not being able to get her partner out in time.

"What about the illusion?" Asked Xanxus, ignoring the waterworks.

"It'll last. I made sure of that." she stated, a spark of determination burning in the violet depth.

"At least you did something right. Get yourself patched up, I'll tell the bastard." Ordered Xanxus as he stood to look for a certain silver haired Storm Guardian.

* * *

"What?" he couldn't believe it. The plan was flawless. Well, it has a few holes but if the damn agent didn't interfere they wouldn't have the damn problem in the first place.

"You heard me." said Xanxus growling, obviously disliking the fact that he lost a man because of this.

"Shit. So the government IS involved." Growled the other as well, striking a fist at a wall in frustration.

"What's the plan." Asked the Varia boss, calming down a bit.

"Huh?"

"You made this mess. Clean it up!" he exclaimed as he informed the younger man.

"Get Chrome to disguise as a nurse. We have a tracker around the lunatic, right." Nodded the other as he began to make another plan.

"Yeah. Any news on the tracer?" affirmed the assassin recalling the little bug they placed in an earring they forced Bel to wear out of precaution's sake.

"Yeah. We got an address." Informed the right hand as he opened his laptop, there was already an address present on the flat glass screen.

"You think the guy's tough?" asked Xanxus, since he had his fair share of encounters with the agents and they weren't half bad in fighting.

"Compared to us? He'll be like a marshmallow." Smirked the bomber, a familiar of arrogance coating his tone.

"Let's pay a house call, then." sneered the other as he and Gokudera exited the building.

* * *

He felt sore.

His head was throbbing, placing a hand to the tender spot her tried to recall what had happened.

Nothing came.

Only the mocking darkness, ringing with silence.

"So you're awake." He heard the voice, turning to the sound, he saw a lithe raven haired man approach.

"W-Who are you?" he croaked, his head was pounding.

"We should he asking _you_ that question." Frowned the man.

He blinked as he answered the stranger.

"I-I d-don't k-know." He stammered in horror as he felt himself be engulfed by a thick blanket of panic and fear.

* * *

"You think he's faking it?" the agent in charge asked the doctor who was monitoring the now sedated blond.

"It's possible. But with the concussions he just received, it wouldn't be much of a surprise to receive temporary memory loss." Informed the doctor, as he scanned the chart.

"Is there a way where we can he certain?" said the agent, as he watched the suspect sleep. He looked like an ordinary person, but they recovered a bunch of knives and wire on him making him more of a suspect than a victim.

"We could put him in a lie detector and tell him that it's just a test." Suggested the doctor which the agent readily took.

The results?

The suspect was telling the truth.

"Where am I?" he finally had to ask, they we sticking wire on him and it was getting annoying. And something inside him that he didn't like to he told what to do.

"In a hospital. You're going to be staying here till we could transfer you to another location where you'll be… more secure."

He felt internal alarms blare at the pause.

For some strange reason, something in his head was telling him to get out and fast.

"But I'm fine." he protested, he didn't like being led around be anyone.

"No you're not. You have a nasty bump on you head there kid and you're not leaving till you get a doctor's written consent." Lectured the older man much to the amnesiac's annoyance.

"Fine." he sighed in defeat much to his rising chagrin on the man.

"Good. Now be a good boy and get some sleep." Said the man leaving him in the while walled room.

"Che! Like I'll ever listen to you." he muttered under his breath while he clenched his fists in frustration at the thought of being treated like some… some peasant.

As he was busy immersing himself in his own frustrations that he didn't notice a dark haired violet eyed nurse came in, to read the chart. He didn't see how a flash of panic and concern strike through the violet orbs, nor did he notice how she fingered through her pockets to inform a certain silver haired Shark of the situation.

Gokudera decided to give the reins to Squalo since he's the Captain and that Xanxus and he were busy with the search for the boss.

* * *

"Pizza delivery." Informed the unfamiliar voice as the doorbell rang annoyingly through the house of a certain agent.

"I didn't – " he was too distracted in the growing frustrations and dead ends he was getting that he didn't bother to put his guard up ending him with a nice shot to the arm with a tranquilizer dart.

* * *

"Brassi got to him first." Said Xanuxs as they hid from a distance watching the men in pizza uniform disguises carry a big burly agent into their truck.

"Yeah, which means he knows something. Call the others." Agreed the bomber as he already started to tail them.

"Already done." Informed Xanxus as he sat back, while they drove in anticipated silence.

* * *

_How long has he been out?_

He cursed himself for his carelessness.

"About time you woke but you big gorilla." Sneered the Brassi Mafioso was he splashed some cold water on the agent.

"I'm not going to tell you anything." Spat Casey earning an amused smirk from his captor.

"Is that so…" grinned the man in anticipation as he and his men started to beat the agent into a bloody pulp.

"SPEAK!" he ordered, only to get a bloodstained spit on the face, ensuing another beating session.

He was already out on a limb since Walker got some strange virus in her. Now, the damn idiot was missing along with the witness.

The damn virus didn't make anything better.

Now, he's turned into a human punching bag.

Things were not looking up.

Not looking up at all.

* * *

"Yamamoto, did you find them?" asked the right hand through the phone as he watched they guys beat the man up.

He inwardly admired the man's resilience.

"Yeah, I just finished off the last few. We'll be there in a few." Answered the baseball fanatic. They found the kids in a nearby building disguised as a pizza shop, much to their relief no child was harmed.

"Good." Cutting the connection, signaling Xanxus that they'll be making their move soon.

"You're not going to talk eh?" said the interrogator attempting to punch the living daylights out of Casey.

"That's really pathetic. Picking on a defenseless man." Sighed Gokudera as he leaned against the post while the others stood against the darkness silently awaiting his signal.

"You." snarled the men as the recognized the Storm and company.

_What the hell?_

He wasn't hit that hard was he?

He must be since he could clearly see a bunch of kids.

_Are they nuts?_

He couldn't help but comment as he watched the guy with silver hair get the men's attention.

He actually saw them men flinch when they saw them.

FLINCH!

_Who the hell are they?_

Before he knew it, a fight ensued.

"Look out!" he managed to yell out when they men too out their guns and started to fire.

"What the hell?" He gasped as he watched the teen smirk as some kind of floating shields made out of bone blocked the bullets with absolute easy.

"Amateurs." Sneered the scar faced man, as he began to fire his own set of guns, it was more like a flame throwers than guns.

_It must be hallucination. _He thought as he watched them all take out weapons from tiny dice like boxes along with different colored flames varying in color.

_WHAT THE HELL? _

He was DEFINITELY hit too fucking hard.

_This CAN'T be real!_

"Be more careful baseball idiot." He heard the silver haired boy snap at his comrade as he shot the Brassi trying to get behind the tall kid.

"Ahaha! Sorry." Laughed the other as he returned the favor by slashing another enemy with a sword that used to be a stick for crying out loud.

"VOI! FOCUS YOU DAMN BASTARDS!" shouted another who wore had a sword instead of an arm.

"Looks like we got company." Sneered the scar-faced man as he saw more men come, but this time to his lo and relief they were on _his_ side.

"I don't what's going on but you got to be crazy if we're going to let you go." He barked at them, earning their once deviated attention.

"Shut up!" snapped the long silver haired guy.

The last thing he was saw darkness.

* * *

"Gokudera!" the familiar loud voice rang through the speaker, even though they were going to face the Brassi, they told Ryohei and Luss to stay behind and protect the girls and as well as inform them if something comes up.

"What?" he asked as they mounted the fallen agent in the truck for further questioning.

"Sawada's back!" he could already here the uncontained enthusiasm and joy in the voice while the right hand sported a wide grin at the info.

* * *

"The boss is back? That's great, Yamamoto-kun!" she rejoiced as she was informed of their success.

"Yeah, all we need it Bel. And we could wrap this up." She could almost hear the grin of the Rain Guardian.

"I'll take care of it. I won't mess up this time." She stated.

"You won't mess up. You'll do just fine Chrome." He assured, placing a small smile upon the girl's features.

* * *

"Who are you?" he demanded when some girl with an eye patch carrying a trident burst into his room.

"Bel-san, come with me." she said, reaching out a hand urging him to go with her.

"But." He was unsure, yet, something told him to just do it. He was about to grab her hand when several men burst in the room.

"No one's going anywhere!" he leader claimed, only to be blocked by a wall of fire when her trident struck the white tiled hospital floor.

"Do you want to remember or not?" she asked in an urgent tone.

"I – " he hesitated only to be alarmed by the sound of gunshots.

"I'm going with you." he said as he allowed himself to follow the strange woman.

"Here! Use it to defend yourself." She informed, giving him a bunch of silver knives and thin wire, he was about to ask he why when, they were once again cut off by more men.

"Well what do we have here?" sneered the man as they pointed the gun at them, he dared to take a step but was frozen when one of them shot him in the arm, sending a sharp burning pain through him.

"Bel-san!" he heard she call out, he couldn't acknowledge her because of the pain. He felt a warm liquid stain his hand, he dared to look at it when he was caught by the sight of startling crimson.

The was…

**Magnificent!**

And at that moment, something in him snapped, another sharp jolt of pain invaded his cranium as the bloody images flow in starling clarity.

He remembers.

And that alone signifies a bloody massacre to come.

* * *

"Where am I?" he demanded not caring of the future repercussions.

"Where my intuition told me." informed the teen in a tired tone indicating that the fight took more out of him than he thought.

"Don't you think you've dragged me around enough?" he whined, after watching the one thought-to-be harmless teen take all those big scary men down, he was blindfolded and forced to go somewhere AGAIN.

"Fine. But don't freak out okay." Sighed the Mafioso as he took the blindfold.

"You're kidding." He gaped, as he took in the familiar surroundings.

"You're intuition led you to BUY MORE?" he turned to the teen in shock.

"Yeah!" he was boy merely shrug in response, he was about to ask how since the store was closed when the teen beat him to it.

"I broke in, it wasn't that hard." Informed Tsuna.

"Holy shit!" he gasped as he felt his knees go weak for some reason.

"TENTH!" Chuck's current shock and disbelief was broken when a loud gruff voice echoed within the store.

"Gokudera!" he was the boy smile widely, while he was another kid enter the communications room.

"Bartowski!" he never thought that he'd feel relief at the sound of Casey's voice.

"Casey! Am I glad…" he was about to say when he saw a tied up beaten agent.

"Why are you tied up?" he asked in panic as he saw more people come in.

Excluding the scary two men in leather jackets, the tall Asian boy seemed normal.

"Why are you strapped to a chair." He heard the agent spat gaining his attention once more.

"The kid's Vongola!" he informed only to get horrifying glares from the two scary men.

"What use would that do NOW!" demanded the obviously pissed of Casey.

"Did they hurt you?" Chuck's attention was caught when the silver haired guy approached Tsuna like a mother hen.

_He kinda reminds me how Ellie get's all worried._

_Are they brother's or something?_

Or something.

"We didn't do anything! Let us go!" he said earning the boy's attention.

"Shut up!" snapped the teen, as he was met with fierce sharp light jade eyes.

"Oh my God, you're Smoking Bomb Hayato!" he gasped as images of a bombs and dynamites entered him.

"You're the Varia!" he exclaimed as he caught sight of a certain insignia upon the leather jackets.

"Shut up you idiot!" he heard Casey, while he stared in horror at the horrible images present upon him.

_Assassination Squad._ It rang horrifyingly in his head like a resounding gong.

"Gokudera-kun… Chuck's really confused right now. Take it easy on him." Said Tsuna, calming the bomber down effortlessly.

"My apologies, boss." As the bomber bowed in apology, the words echoed as he stared in disbelief.

"Boss?" Casey questioned in confusion.

"BOSS?" he gaped.

"You're a BOSS?" He tried to confirm.

Maybe he was hearing things.

"Well yeah!" shrugged the other almost sheepishly.

"Aside from not being able to recognize Tsuna, it seems that this one knows a lot about us." A small voice caught his attention, his gaze went to a certain baby wearing a fedora.

"What's a baby doing here?" he stared at the child who seemed to at home among these dangerous people.

"How much do you know?" asked the child, paying no heed to his question.

"N-Nothing." He stated, he could fool a simple baby right?

Wrong.

"You're a pathetic excuse for agent. You can't even lie properly." Stated the kid in a brutal way that could hurt a man's pride.

"He's still new." Defended Tsuna, hoping that Chuck won't take it too hard, he got enough from Casey earlier, the man doesn't need Reborn to verbally pelt him as well.

"That doesn't excuse him, Dame Tsuna." Retorted the baby quite sharply quickly silencing the boss for some reason.

"So the rumors are true, the Vongola's new boss is a kid." Sneered Casey in an insulting manner.

"Don't insult the Tenth like that, you oversized marshmallow!" snapped the bomber who seemed to be very protective of his boss.

"What did you call me pipsqueak!" growled the man, clearly not liking his new nickname.

"You heard me!" the teen yelled, not caring the man was almost twice his size.

"When I get out of this chair, I'm going knock your block off!" he snarl, obviously pissed at the circumstances.

"Bring it on!" said the teen in much swagger.

"Casey, be careful he hides explosives in various places in his body." He warned earning many glances at his direction.

"Aw crap!" he swore as he felt the uncomforting stares thrown at him.

Does he HAVE a death wish?

Casey's REALLY big. Even if he does hide explosives on him, it won't be that much since he's kinda thin.

In short, the man can take care of himself.

"The trash knows enough." He heard the Varia leader concluded darkly as if signaling an execution.

"Boss. What's your decision?" he saw the silver haired teen turn serious at the words as sharp tempest watched him in scrutiny.

"My intuition told me to come here. Chuck, what's in this room?" asked the boss, ignoring the pending decision he has to make if things don't go well.

"I may be new but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to tell you anything!" he retorted not willing to give anymore problems.

"So there is something in here." Said the baby rather smugly.

"You really are useless." Muttered Casey, sending sharp arrows of guilt through him.

"I'll still find out. This is your chance to help yourselves." Said Tsuna as he watched Chuck debate with himself.

If he doesn't tell…

They kill them.

If he does tell them…

Casey will kill him.

Either way, he'd end up dead.

But they'll still find out right?

So what's the point?

So better let Casey kill him than they both end up dead.

One loss is better than two right?

Right.

_It was my fault anyway._

"Fine. This is the communicationd room. We get our briefings here." He sighed ignoring the venomous glare he was getting from his bodyguard.

"Can you connect us to your boss?" asked the baby with a smirk signaling their victory.

"Casey knows how. I don't." he stated turning to meet the man's cold hard glare.

"I won't…"Casey was about to protest but found a gun pointed at him.

"You don't have a choice." Said the kid coldly as his onyx eyes glinted with cool seriousness.

It was a simple problem.

_Either let them kill you or let the Agency do it for them._

He'd die before he let that happens.

He was no traitor.

_Unlike somebody…_

But he can't let them have Chuck either.

He was how those black eyes lit up.

He may be a baby but something told him that if he dies now.

They'll take Chuck with them.

Along with all their secrets.

_Shit._

Die as a patriot.

Or a traitor.

But to die honorably would mean to sacrifice a whole nation.

He has no choice.

"Damn you're mighty cold for a kid. Press that button." He sighed in defeat.

_Better to die a traitor than place the US in their hands._

"Agent Casey." The familiar voice entered his ears.

"Good morning, Ma'am." He could hear the small smug voice as well.

"Who is this?" the incredulous tone was dominant in the once formal tone.

"I'm the representative of the Vongola boss." Stated the child with a bunch of teens behind him.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she raised a brow, almost seeing the thing as an insult.

"I assure you madam this is no joke." Said the baby gravely catching the woman's attention.

"What do you want?" she was cautious, the years have made her that way.

"To negotiate." He simply stated as he leaned back upon the sofa.

"We don't …" she was about to protest when the baby cut her off.

"You have an affected agent and two more in our mercy… are you sure about that?" said the baby, the smugness didn't disappear from his tone as he earned the elder woman's full attention.

* * *

"We can't trust you." she said in a stern voice, they were discussing a fair trade when the child pulled another card on her. He assures a cure, but how can they be sure, it could be the same virus only this time everyone would be afflicted.

"Your agent dies then." he stated offhandedly in an no caring way.

"We can find the cure." She informed, they were the damn US, he could find anything.

"In time?"

She was beginning to hate that smirk.

"We can find a replacement." She stated coldly as her lips settled into a grim line.

"I see, so that goes the same with the other two?" ventured the Mafiosi, while the both looked at the two captured men.

Agent Casey is dispensable.

No matter how good he is.

Every agent is dispensable.

It's standard SOP.

But the Intersect isn't.

"How about me?" he could feel their stares once more, but right now he didn't care.

He won't let Sarah die.

"What?" a chorused question came.

"Don't be stupid Chuck!" hissed Casey at him heatedly.

"V-Vongola can have me in exchange for Sarah's cure." His eyes grew determined.

"Utterly unacceptable." Stated the woman, earning the hit men's attentions at once.

He was definitely more than what he seems.

"Yeah, don't be stupid!" said the agent in obvious disagreement with his descision.

"What it'll be kid, me in exchange for the cure." He ignored the protests as he faced the baby hit man.

"Make your demands Vongola." Her voice rang throughout the room, cutting off whatever words Reborn was about to say.

"Easy, you stay out of our business. Betray us and we'll show you why we're rank as one of the most fearsome Familigia in the underworld." He smirked once more as he female commander glared at him venomously.

"But you are allowed to interfere with ours correct?" her eyes narrowed that the words.

"Only when we deem it necessary, yes." Shrugged the other as he waited for the reply.

"Fine." she sighed in defeat she was about to disconnect when one more statement stopped her.

"And don't blame your agents. They told us nothing, we found the communications button ourselves." Inserted Tsuna, earning two shocked gazes from Chuck and Casey while he faced the woman with a serious gaze.

"And you are?" she asked as she looked at the lanky teen.

"That doesn't concern you madam." He stated with a knowingly smile as the cut the connections abruptly.

* * *

"Was that really necessary Reborn?" he asked as they both stared at the now black screen.

"Of course, we might as well keep the US off our backs." Stated the hit man.

"I guess so. But we could've easily escaped, and I see no harm in curing Ms. Sarah." Tsuna said a bit innocently as the two grown men stared at him in disbelief.

"Wait, you were going to cure Sarah?" asked the wide-eyed man.

"Yeah, the bullet was for me, and it wouldn't be right." Nodded the mafia boss.

"Great a mafia boss with a conscience." Muttered Casey, feeling the bitterness of being saved by the enemy.

"You're lucky, if he wasn't such a softie, he wouldn't have to save your butts from being executed as traitors." Said Reborn who only made the guy harden his glare at him.

* * *

"There's more to you than meets the eye, I noticed they way you blanked out earlier when you managed to recognize us" said Tsuna rather quietly as they stood in the waiting room.

"I know." He smiled, as he was met by another bewildered look.

"What are you talking about?" asked the other still trying to hide things from him.

"It would benefit Vongola more if we kept you." he sighed, simplifying the answer as he saw the man's eyes grow even wider.

"But I won't, I really hope everything works out with you and Sarah, you like her right?" he continued only to get disjointed and flustered replies from the man.

"Here." He said as he gave Chuck a keychain molded in the shape of a clam.

"Open it when you decide to join us one day." Informed the boss while the other just gaped at him.

"I don't want to be a part of the mafia!" he exclaimed earning a nice laugh from the teen.

"I said that too, but here I am." Chuckled the other, making him a bit confused.

_He's a mafia boss and he doesn't want to be in the mafia._

_That doesn't even make sense._

"It's just precautionary, it could be panic button too, but only in time of extreme danger." He informed further, earning understanding nods from the man.

"But truth be told, I hope you never find it necessary to do so." He confessed, his brown eyes churned in something Chuck couldn't seem to place.

"You're a weird kid." He couldn't help but remark as Tsuna merely gave him a strange knowing smile in reply.

"Didn't I tell you I only cure females." Stated the strange man as he walked in while his eyes landed on Chuck.

"Sarah's female." Stated Chuck a bit weird out.

_Since when does a doctor have sexual preferences when it comes to patients?_

"Let me see the results." Sighed the other as Tsuna gave him a bunch of lab reports given via email.

"Oh…" remarked the strange doctor.

"Oh? Is that a good 'oh' or a bad 'oh'?" he questioned worriedly.

_What if even the Vongola can't cure her?_ He thought in panic.

"Good. And before you ask… I don't like explaining myself to idiots." Stated the doctor, as he began searching his white jacket.

Turns out, the bullet Sarah got hit by was a highly concentrated Rain Attribute bullet, it isn't that lethal to other attributes but those with Sun can easily be sent into comatose states. It of course could be remedied by a good concentrated amount of Sun Attribute.

How Dr. Shamal managed to find out?

It was because of the slowed bodily functions that could easily be associated with Rain Attritubes.

It isn't such a logical diagnosis but this IS Shamal were talking about.

"Make her swallow this and your problems are solved." Said the doctor, tossing Chuck a bright yellow pill.

* * *

Everything was all blurry.

She felt like she haven't moved in ages.

"What?"

"Oh, thank God! You're awake!" she open her eyes to see Chuck clearly brimming with joy at the sight of her.

"What happened?" she asked as tried to remember, the last thing she got was a numbing pain that went through her.

"You got hit by some strange virus. But luckily, we got a cure." He said, she could tell there was something he wasn't telling, but she knows she'll find out later with Casey.

"So how was the mission?" she sighed, still feeling tired.

"Fine." the way he said made it seem that something else was up.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"I was really scared, you know." He confessed, looking straight into her blue eyes.

"What? Did they come after Ellie?" she asked.

"No. I was worried that I might not get to talk to you again." he said, holding her hand tighter.

"Chuck. You know I don't go down that easily." She smiled, resting her warm palm against his moist face.

_Was he crying?_

"I know." He smiled in reply, but he couldn't help but remember the words Casey told him earlier.

"_**Do that again and you'll be living the rest of your life in a windowless cell underground!"**_

He unconsciously fingers the clam keychain, and hopes that he too won't find it necessary to ask for Vongola Decimo's help.

* * *

It was a quiet trip back to Italy.

Everyone was obviously tired from their 'vacation'.

He stole a glance back at his Familigia and smiled.

They were all on the same plane this time.

All the girls were seated next to each other, sleeping soundly, while the children fell asleep on one of the couches in the plane. His right and left hands were already nodding off in their seats while the rest of the Varia except for Levi who seemed to be the only one alert and awake since he spent the rest of the time recovering from Poison Cooking.

Overall, everything was peaceful.

"Why?" his ears caught the Sun Arcobaleno's voice.

"He's a friend." He answered, earning an understanding nod from the hit man.

Chuck was his friend.

The man may not consider him as such anymore, but when push comes to shove, he'll willingly help the man out if being an agent doesn't work out for him.

"I hope everything works out in the end for you Chuck." He whispered, wishing the man happiness and hope that Chuck realizes how a good person he really is.

Not some Dame…

But someone you can really rely on in time of need.

At that thought, he too allowed sleep to claim him and lead him into the world of dreams.

* * *

**-END-**

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read much appreciated! Please leave a review. This is my very first crossover fic so please be gentle. It's FINALLY done! YAY! I don't know how long I've been working on this thing but who cares, it's FINALLY DONE! Goodbye, giant plot bunnies ^o^ I apologize for any mistakes in facts and grammar as well as any OCness the characters may exhibit. This is a response to a challenge made by **GilaKomik**

The genres are Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Adventure, Drama, Family, Friendship, Humor, Suspense, and Angst. How did I do?


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